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Scientists today started reviewing some everyday and industrial chemicals used in such products as carpets and medical equipment to determine whether they should be added to a United Nations-backed major treaty banning hazardous chemicals.

With at least 2 million women in Africa, Asia and the Arab region living with obstetric fistula and 50,000 to 100,000 new cases developing each year, the United Nations-backed campaign to prevent and treat the debilitating birth injury announced today a four-fold increase in the number of countries it now serves.

United Nations agencies are helping authorities to respond to a diarrhoea outbreak in Afghanistan, where only about a quarter of the population has access to safe drinking water and 20 per cent of child deaths is attributed to the easily preventable disease.

The newly appointed United Nations representative for Lebanon arrived today in Beirut charged with implementing Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the armed group Hizbollah, as well as coordinating all UN work in the country.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the agreement between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States on denuclearization verification measures, saying the accord will allow the Six-Party Talks progress and related activities to resume.

The permissibility of therapeutic cloning will be the focus of a United Nations ethics panel later this month when it considers whether a non-binding General Assembly declaration calling on Member States to ban all forms of human cloning should be reassessed in light of scientific, ethical, social, political and legal advances.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for more action over the global financial crisis following the “laudable” steps taken by major economies and international financial institutions over the weekend, voicing deep concern over the impact of the crisis on the developing world, particularly the poorest of the poor.

The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today joined forces with a global research consortium to enhance studies into fusion, a type of nuclear energy generated by merging light atoms.

The Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders made progress today in talks focusing on the issue of the presidency and vice-presidency in a new power-sharing government, the top United Nations envoy to Cyprus told journalists.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has transmitted to the Security Council the last report issued by the independent commission on Ethiopia and Eritrea’s common boundary.